This invention relates to a built-in or self-contained ironing center, and more particularly to a foldable ironing board and associated housing or cabinet which is designed to be mounted in or on a kitchen wall, or the like.
Heretofore efforts have been made to provide foldable, compact ironing boards which can be utilized in small or rather cramped areas. U.S. Pat. No. 1,563,044, for example, discloses a wall-mounted, folded ironing board which comes in two sections, one of which is mounted on the wall, and the other section of which is pivotally connected to the wall-mounted section. The U.S. Pat. Nos. 671,164, 1,696,145, 2,014,549 and 4,480,556, also disclose wall-mounted ironing boards, at least certain of which are mounted to swivel about a vertical axis so that they can be used in a form in which they either project at right angles from the wall, or can be swung so that they extend generally parallel to the wall.
Furthermore, some efforts have been made to place the foldable ironing board within a cabinet, which in turn, is mounted in or on a wall, as suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 3,185,278.
Missing from these prior art devices, however, is a cabinet which contains not only a foldable ironing board, but also other features which, not only enable the position of the board to be adjusted to accommodate operators of different height, but which also include provision for other items which considerably ease the chore of ironing.
It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide an improved, built-in ironing unit or center, which includes all of the features necessary to permit the actual ironing operation to be performed in very small or cramped spaces.
Still another object of this invention is to provide an ironing unit or center of the type described which includes a foldable ironing board, which can be collapsed into a housing or cabinet, which, in turn, can be mounted in or on a kitchen or hallway wall, or the like.
Still other objects of the invention will be apparent hereinafter from the specification and from the recital of the appended claims, particularly when read in conjunction with accompanying drawings.